Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA vs. Extendons Digital Downloads: At a Glance
- Feature-by-Feature Comparison
- Pros and Cons Summary
- Migration, Scale, and Long-Term Considerations
- The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
- Practical Decision Guide: Which Path to Choose
- Pricing Comparison — Practical Examples
- Implementation and Support: What to Expect Post-Install
- SEO, Customer Experience, and Retention
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Conclusion
Introduction
Adding digital products, courses, or memberships to a Shopify store looks simple on the surface — upload files, attach them to products, deliver a download link. In practice, merchants face decisions that affect revenue, customer experience, and long-term growth: does the app keep customers inside Shopify? Does it scale with storage and members? Can it bundle digital goods with physical products and subscriptions?
Short answer: Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is a strong choice for merchants who want a straightforward, file-focused solution with clear tiered storage and helpful branding options, while Extendons Digital Downloads suits stores that need simple file attachments with flexible download controls at a low entry cost. For merchants who want to combine courses, memberships, and commerce without forcing customers offsite, a Shopify-native, all-in-one platform such as Tevello offers a higher-value, more integrated alternative.
This post provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA and Extendons Digital Downloads. The goal is a practical evaluation so merchants can pick the right app for their needs — and to show how a natively integrated alternative can remove common limits of single-purpose apps.
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA vs. Extendons Digital Downloads: At a Glance
| App | Core Function | Best For | Rating (Shopify) | Native vs. External | Price Range | Storage (entry to top) | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA (Sellkite Business) | Sell and manage digital files, license keys, branded download pages | Merchants who want a full-featured file-delivery app with branding and license management | 5.0 | App inside Shopify (file-delivery-focused) | Free → $25.99/mo | 500MB → 1000GB | 31 |
| Extendons Digital Downloads (Extendons) | Attach and deliver multiple file types, QR codes, license keys, download limits | Stores needing basic download control and per-file limits at a low cost | 5.0 | App inside Shopify (file-delivery-focused) | Free → $19.99/mo | 1GB → 20GB | 1 |
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Core Functionality and Product Scope
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA (Sellkite Business)
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA focuses on delivering files securely and managing licenses and limits. The app supports unlimited file types — PDFs, videos, audio, templates, software — and allows merchants to attach any number of files to products or variants. Key capabilities include download limits, license key issuance, branded download pages (fonts, logo, colors), and the ability to sell unique files per order (useful for personalized digital goods).
Strengths include its breadth of file controls and branding options. For merchants that sell software, license-protected assets, or bespoke digital art, the licensing and branding controls are valuable.
Extendons Digital Downloads (Extendons)
Extendons Digital Downloads provides a simple, flexible way to attach multiple file formats to products, set download limits and time restrictions, and present files via download links or QR codes. The app highlights license key support and analytics like storage usage and order history.
Extendons is straightforward for stores selling ebooks, audio files, images, or course material as attachments. The QR code option is unique for merchants who want offline/physical access points to digital downloads (e.g., event handouts, printed receipts with scan codes).
Verdict on Scope
Both apps are primarily file-delivery tools. Neither is a full course or community platform by design. For merchants who only need reliable, file-based delivery with licensing and download control, both apps meet that need. For course platforms, community features, drip content, or membership workflows, these apps are limited unless combined with other systems.
File Types, Delivery Methods, and Limits
Supported File Types
Both apps support the common set of digital formats: PDFs, images, audio, video, archives, and software file types. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA explicitly markets support for any number of files per product/variant and unique files per order. Extendons highlights multi-file, multi-format uploads and QR code delivery.
Delivery Methods and Security
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA includes secure file delivery with configurable download limits and license keys. It also allows custom sender email and, on higher tiers, custom email domain — useful for white-label delivery. Extendons similarly offers max download and time limit controls and license keys, plus QR codes.
Security-wise, both apps aim to prevent link sharing through time-limited tokens and download caps. Neither offers native DRM for streamed video content; both primarily deliver files for download or embed links to hosted videos.
Storage Handling
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA tiers scale from 500MB on the free plan up to 1,000GB on the enterprise plan. Extendons starts with 1GB free and scales to 20GB on the top plan. Storage scale will matter for merchants with many video-heavy courses. MEGA’s higher storage tiers offer more predictability for heavy media sellers.
Branding, Customization, and Customer Experience
Branded Delivery
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA emphasizes the ability to present downloads under a merchant's brand: custom sender email, logos, and colors for the download page. For businesses aiming to keep a consistent brand experience from product page to download, this is important.
Extendons offers straightforward download pages and QR codes but does not emphasize custom sender domains or as deep branding controls. The experience is adequate for small stores where branding on the download page is less critical.
Customer Flow and Checkout
Both apps deliver files post-purchase through Shopify order workflows. However, neither app is built to manage course access, member dashboards, or gated community areas by itself. That means merchants wanting a unified learning experience or gated community must integrate additional tools or custom-build member areas.
License Keys, Unique Files, and Per-Order Delivery
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA supports unlimited license keys and selling unique files per order — a distinct advantage for merchants selling software, one-off digital commissions, or protected content. Extendons covers license keys and QR scanning but is positioned toward bulk file attachments and standard download rules.
For stores that need one-time unique file shipments (e.g., personalized digital art), MEGA is the more flexible option.
Integrations and Extensibility
App Integrations
Both apps work within Shopify and integrate into the store's email and order flows. Neither app advertises deep integrations with subscription platforms, advanced LMSs, or community tools. That means features like recurring membership billing, drip content release, and integration with learning platforms require added apps or manual workflows.
This is where platform choice matters: a merchant using several single-purpose apps will need to manage multiple integrations, which increases complexity and creates potential points of failure.
Native Shopify Checkout and Flow
Both apps operate on Shopify but do not offer built-in course or member management that leverages advanced Shopify features like Shopify Flow or native subscription consolidation. For merchants who want complete native handling of checkout-based memberships and content access, a purpose-built Shopify-native course and community app can offer significant advantages.
Pricing and Value
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA Pricing
- Free Plan: 500MB storage, 15 orders, 3 products, unlimited license keys, download by URL.
- Pro Plan ($12.99/mo): 10GB storage, unlimited orders and products, unlimited license keys.
- Max Plan ($19.99/mo): 50GB storage, custom sender email, priority support.
- Enterprise Plan ($25.99/mo): 1000GB storage, custom email domain, priority support.
MEGA’s pricing scales primarily by storage and email customization. The free tier is limited to 15 orders, which is suitable for testing or low-volume sellers. Pro and above remove order caps and increase storage; the enterprise tier becomes attractive for high-volume media sellers given its large storage allowance.
Extendons Pricing
- Free (1GB): License key, QR code scanning, download/time limit control, unlimited products.
- Basic ($5.99/mo): 3GB storage.
- Pro ($9.99/mo): 10GB storage.
- Premium ($19.99/mo): 20GB storage.
Extendons provides a low-cost entry into digital downloads. The free 1GB tier and very affordable Pro tier may appeal to small sellers or those who host large assets externally and only need small storage on the app.
Pricing: Value Considerations
Value depends on media intensity and feature needs. For low-storage, low-complexity sellers, Extendons offers better value for money. For merchants needing high storage, license key management at scale, and branded sender options, Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA becomes a more predictable choice due to its higher top-tier storage and feature set.
Support, Reviews, and Trust Signals
Reviews and Ratings
- Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA: 31 reviews, 5.0 rating.
- Extendons Digital Downloads: 1 review, 5.0 rating.
Both apps show strong ratings, but the number of reviews matters: MEGA has more public feedback, which helps evaluate reliability and real-world merchant experiences. Extendons’ single review is positive but limited for assessing long-term stability or breadth of merchant use cases.
Support Availability
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA offers priority support on higher-paid tiers. Extendons’ support model is not clearly tiered in public materials but includes support for the app’s features. Merchants with high-order volumes or mission-critical downloads should consider the benefits of an app with documented priority support and more user feedback.
Analytics and Order Management
Extendons touts analytics for storage usage and order details, which is helpful for tracking digital asset consumption. MEGA focuses more on delivery controls and branding than on in-app analytics, so merchants who need deeper reporting might rely on Shopify’s order data or third-party analytics.
Use Cases: Which App Fits Which Merchant
-
Merchants selling simple downloadable goods (ebooks, PDFs, single-video downloads) with low storage needs:
- Extendons is a cost-effective, straightforward choice due to low-cost plans and QR code options.
-
Merchants selling software, license-protected goods, or bespoke per-order files:
- Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA provides unlimited license keys and the ability to sell unique files per order, plus stronger branding controls.
-
Merchants with many video-heavy courses who want integrated drip schedules, certificates, and community features:
- Neither app is optimized for full course/member lifecycle. In those cases, consider a platform that unifies courses and commerce natively within Shopify.
Pros and Cons Summary
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA — Pros
- Strong file and license management (unlimited license keys).
- High storage ceiling on enterprise plan (1000GB).
- Branded download pages and custom sender email/domain on higher tiers.
- More merchant reviews to assess stability and support.
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA — Cons
- Free plan limited to 15 orders and 3 products.
- Not a course or community platform; lacks drip, memberships, or native member areas.
- Requires additional systems to manage memberships or recurring billing.
Extendons Digital Downloads — Pros
- Low-cost tiers and a free 1GB plan perfect for small sellers.
- QR code delivery is handy for hybrid physical-digital experiences.
- Straightforward controls for download/time limits and license keys.
- Unlimited products support on all tiers.
Extendons Digital Downloads — Cons
- Top storage limit (20GB) can be restrictive for video-heavy course sellers.
- Very few public reviews, making long-term reliability harder to judge.
- Not a native course/community platform; limited for membership-based offerings.
Migration, Scale, and Long-Term Considerations
When to Start Simple and When to Plan to Migrate
Merchants often begin with a lightweight solution to test digital products. That approach works when the primary goal is delivering a small number of files. However, if the plan includes expanding into courses, membership tiers, or bundling digital products with physical goods and subscriptions, the decision to start with a single-purpose app should account for future migration effort.
Migration friction includes:
- Re-issuing access links and keys.
- Moving large video libraries.
- Recreating member access and course progress.
- Updating marketing flows and email senders.
If a merchant expects rapid growth in courses, members, or repeat purchases driven by educational content, investing in a platform that natively supports those workflows reduces long-term cost and friction.
Scalability: Storage and Support
Large media sellers should prioritize storage ceilings and reliable support. MEGA’s enterprise tier addresses this with high storage and email customization, while Extendons caps at 20GB. For sellers with thousands of students or many hours of video content, those storage differences translate directly into monthly cost and operational work.
The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
The Problem of Platform Fragmentation
Platform fragmentation occurs when a merchant stitches together multiple single-purpose tools — a file delivery app, an external course host, a separate community forum, and a third-party subscription manager. This approach can work for early-stage tests, but it creates measurable problems:
- Customer friction from multiple logins and redirects.
- Complicated bundle or upsell logic across systems.
- Support overhead when orders or access fail.
- Revenue leakage when checkout or checkout-level discounts cannot be applied to off-site platforms.
When content and commerce live in separate places, conversion and lifetime value suffer because customers are moved away from a merchant’s storefront rather than deepening their relationship with the brand.
What a Native, All-in-One Platform Offers
A Shopify-native platform that unifies courses, communities, and commerce keeps the customer “at home” in the store. That enables:
- Native checkout use for courses, memberships, and bundles.
- Bundled purchases that include physical kits and on-demand courses without extra integration.
- Shared customer accounts and single sign-on inside Shopify.
- Consolidated analytics and easier customer support.
Tevello builds on this approach: a native Shopify platform for selling courses, digital products, and communities. Tevello’s philosophy is that merchants grow faster when customers never leave the store.
Evidence: How Native Integration Amplifies Revenue and Reduces Friction
Real merchant results demonstrate the difference a native, integrated approach makes:
- Crochetmilie consolidated courses and physical products on Shopify and sold over 4,000 digital courses, generating over $112K in digital revenue by bundling courses with physical products. The ability to bundle increased both sales and the perceived value of physical products.
- fotopro used a native platform to upsell existing customers and generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers, with repeat buyers accounting for 50%+ of sales.
- Charles Dowding migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets after moving off a fragmented setup. Consolidating membership access eliminated login complexity and cut customer support.
- Klum House bundled physical bag kits with on-demand courses to raise customer retention; the result was a 59%+ returning customer rate and substantially higher average order value.
- Launch Party replaced a duct-taped system and doubled its store’s conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system.
- Smaller activations, such as a 5-day challenge run by Madeit, kept participants on-site and converted 15% of participants into paid masterclass customers.
These concrete examples show that keeping commerce and content together can increase LTV, conversion, and repeat purchase rates. See additional examples and how merchants are earning six figures for more context.
What Tevello Adds Compared to Single-Purpose Apps
Tevello is built to combine:
- Unlimited courses and members on a single plan with membership and subscription features.
- Drip content, certificates, quizzes, and bundles that rely on native Shopify checkout behavior.
- Native integrations with Shopify Checkout and systems like Shopify Flow, plus common media hosts (YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia) and subscription tools.
- A single pricing model that avoids per-community or per-member fees and simplifies forecasting.
For merchants considering Tevello, it's useful to explore all the key features for courses and communities and the pricing model that lets stores scale without unexpected per-member fees. For merchants who want a simple, predictable monthly charge for unlimited courses and members, Tevello’s model can be preferable to paying multiple vendors.
Start a 14-day free trial to test Tevello on your store. (This is a hard call-to-action sentence linking to the pricing page.)
How Tevello Keeps Customers “At Home”
Unlike apps that only deliver files, a native platform provides a member area, course catalog, and community features directly in the store. That system reduces login problems and maintains a single brand experience from first visit through lifetime purchases. Merchants that moved to a native platform reported fewer support tickets, higher repeat purchases, and smoother checkout experiences.
Integrations and Shopify-Native Benefits
Tevello integrates with the native Shopify checkout and tools like Shopify Flow, enabling automation of membership access and conditional logic tied to orders. For merchants that use subscription apps, Tevello works with common subscription platforms and preserves the checkout and billing experience for customers.
For merchants interested in Tevello and how it integrates with Shopify, review the Shopify App listing for Tevello to see that it is natively integrated with Shopify checkout.
Practical Decision Guide: Which Path to Choose
Choose Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA If:
- The primary goal is secure file delivery with license key management.
- Branding on download emails and download pages is essential.
- The product mix includes software or one-off personalized digital files.
- The store requires high storage capacity and predictable higher-tier options.
Choose Extendons Digital Downloads If:
- Budget is a major constraint and storage needs are small to moderate.
- The merchant wants QR code delivery as part of a physical-digital experience.
- The store sells standard downloadable products without member dashboards or drip content.
- Rapid, low-cost deployment is more important than advanced branding or high storage.
Consider Tevello If:
- The plan includes courses, recurring memberships, or community engagement.
- Bundling digital content with physical products and subscriptions is a growth strategy.
- Minimizing support friction and login issues is important.
- The merchant wants a single, predictable plan for unlimited courses and members.
For many merchants, a hybrid approach is tempting: start with a download app and add a course platform later. That path is workable but introduces migration costs. Merchants who plan to grow courses and membership revenue quickly should evaluate a Shopify-native platform early to avoid later friction.
Pricing Comparison — Practical Examples
- A small publisher selling 10 ebooks and a few single-video downloads could start with Extendons’ free tier or $5.99 basic tier and likely stay within cost targets.
- A software seller issuing license keys and sending branded emails with many digital SKUs will find Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA’s Pro or Max tiers to be better value for license management and larger storage.
- A merchant selling physical kits with digital courses (tutorial videos, PDF patterns) and intending to run promotions and bundles should compare Tevello’s unlimited plan against the combined cost of separate apps (download app + course host + membership + subscription), as the native approach often becomes more predictable and cost-effective.
For a clear sense of Tevello’s plans and a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses, check Tevello’s pricing information. a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses
Implementation and Support: What to Expect Post-Install
- Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA: Expect setup around configuring file attachments, license key rules, and branded sender options. Higher tiers include priority support for more complex rollouts.
- Extendons: Expect a lightweight setup to attach files to products and enable QR code usage. Setup friction is low for simple downloads.
- If moving to a native course/community platform: anticipate importing media, setting up course structure (modules, drip), configuring membership access, and potentially migrating existing students and access keys. The advantage is that support tickets and customer experience issues drop once the system is consolidated.
SEO, Customer Experience, and Retention
Delivering courses or digital content behind the native store preserves SEO benefits tied to product pages and content pages on the merchant domain. When content lives on third-party platforms, the merchant often loses the direct SEO signals and the ability to easily cross-sell during checkout.
Native course platforms make it simpler to keep customers engaged post-purchase, increasing retention and LTV. Merchants who focused on keeping users within the store saw measurable improvements in repeat purchases and conversion rates in the case studies mentioned earlier. For example, how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products highlights the conversion benefits when the experience is unified.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA and Extendons differ in handling license keys and unique file delivery?
Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA emphasizes unlimited license keys and supports unique files per order, making it stronger for software and one-off digital commissions. Extendons supports license keys and QR codes but focuses on standard multi-file attachments with download/time limits rather than per-order unique file workflows.
Which app is better for selling video-heavy courses?
Neither app is a full course platform. For heavy video courses and a course-like experience (drip content, member dashboards, quizzes), both will require supplementary tools. Merchants with many hours of video should consider storage needs (MEGA offers higher caps) and, for a long-term solution, evaluate a native course platform that supports course features and scales storage predictably.
If a merchant starts with one of these apps, how difficult is it to migrate to a full course platform later?
Migration challenges include moving video files, re-establishing access controls, and transferring user progress or license keys. Migrating is possible but involves operational work and potential disruption. Merchants planning to scale courses and memberships often benefit from starting with a native, integrated solution to avoid migration costs.
How does a native, all-in-one platform like Tevello compare to specialized or external apps?
A native platform like Tevello consolidates courses, memberships, and commerce inside Shopify, removing cross-platform redirects and multiple login problems. This reduces support tickets, increases repeat purchases, and simplifies bundling of physical and digital products. For evidence, review merchant examples where stores migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets and generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers. For details on features, see all the key features for courses and communities.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA and Extendons Digital Downloads, the decision comes down to scale and scope. Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA is well suited for merchants who need strong license management, branded download experiences, and higher storage ceilings. Extendons Digital Downloads is attractive for small to mid-sized sellers with minimal storage needs who want a low-cost, straightforward download workflow and QR code delivery.
Neither app is a replacement for a dedicated course or community platform. For merchants looking to grow courses, memberships, and higher-LTV bundles while keeping customers inside the store, a Shopify-native, all-in-one approach removes common points of friction. Tevello unifies content, community, and commerce in Shopify and has helped merchants achieve substantial results — from selling $112K+ in courses by bundling with physical products to migrating 14,000+ members and reducing support tickets. See how merchants are earning six figures for more proof.
Start your 14-day free trial to unify your content and commerce today. (This is a hard call-to-action sentence linking to the pricing page.)
If the priority is predictable file delivery with license controls and branded emails, Digital Downloads ‑ MEGA and Extendons Digital Downloads both earn a spot on the shortlist. If the strategy centers on turning digital content into repeatable revenue streams through native checkout, memberships, and bundled commerce, evaluate a native solution and compare the total cost and merchant experience before committing to multiple single-purpose tools.
Additional resources:
- To compare the Tevello app on Shopify and its native checkout benefits, see how it is natively integrated with Shopify checkout.
- Read the Tevello plan details and start a trial at a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.
- Explore see how merchants are earning six figures and specific merchant stories such as how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products and generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers.
For a merchant deciding today, the practical steps are:
- Evaluate immediate needs (storage, license keys, branding).
- Estimate future needs (courses, members, bundles).
- Compare the total monthly cost of single-purpose apps against the predictable plan of a native platform.
- Test with a small cohort — and if courses or memberships are part of the growth plan, consider starting with a native solution to avoid later migration.
For additional merchant feedback, read the 5-star reviews from fellow merchants on the Shopify listing for Tevello and the app store entry to evaluate real-world experiences and integrations. read the 5-star reviews from fellow merchants


